What readers think of Inkheart, plus links to write your own review.

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Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Inkheart

by Cornelia Funke
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus (6):
  • Readers' Rating (113):
  • First Published:
  • Oct 1, 2003, 544 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Jun 2005, 560 pages
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Reviews

Page 14 of 15
There are currently 113 reader reviews for Inkheart
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me

it was great but went flat in the middle
meemee

Inkheart has one of the best beginnings ive ever read. I could just read the 1st chapter over and over again. It automatically sets the mood and makes u feel like you're part of the story. I love it that the characters are all bookworms, like me! Unfortunately, I hated the ending. Sorry, but it was bad! When I finished I was like, oka-ay. I was so disappointed. Overall though, it was a good read. (PS I was 15 when i read it, w/c I feel was slightly too old for it)
K.P

Good Book Unclear Time Frame
I really am enjoying reading Inkheart my only problem is the timeframe is very unclear the whole story seems to be technology deprived yet Mo has a cellular phone and I don't think there is one person in the world who is still a book binder in the 21st century! Well it is only my opinion! But Cornelia Funke did an exceptional job writing a really good fantasy fiction book!!
Twigleg 4ever

Meh... A good story overall... But in the middle.... It just seemed to drag on and on about irrevlvant things... Not to sound mean, though, this just wasn't her best book in my opinion.

<< Some books should be tasted, some should be chewed, but only a few should be thoroughly digested. >>

And boy, this book only goes as far a chewing.... -_-'''
mbg1968

This book's plot sounded interesting, but the execution didn't follow through.

I found it very hard to finish. I was frustrated because it had such potential!

Kara

A book about book lovers should have been better
...I REALLY wanted to like this book. The plot sounded so good, and it seemed perfect anyone who loves to read and who loves books themselves. A book restorer who can pull characters from the pages by reading aloud? I thought it was a sure thing. Needless to say, I was severely disappointed. I've liked Cornelia Funke's books in the past, particularly The Thief Lord, but as I read Inkheart, I noticed over and over again how hollow the story felt, and how much opportunity the author had to make a really amazing book with her great beginning idea. The characters had no depth (despite their emotional reactions to books), and seemed to all be cliches: there's a crazy book-loving aunt, mafiosi, dumb henchmen, etc. I never really bought the sadness and despair that the characters felt from being ripped from their homes within the book, something that Funke really could have developed. Likewise, I never bought that the three book-lovers truly loved books. They didn't reference very many, and even seemed to convey an arrogance about their love of books that I found off-putting.

The author also chose to head each chapter with a quote from a book that supposedly prefaced what was to come, but I found her selections poor, and most of the quotes (59 chapters, after all) came from only a handful of books. It felt like, similar to her characters, she only has read a few books.

However, maybe I felt this way because the books that the heroine, Meggie, loves are all books I kind of really dislike. Speaking of Meggie, what about her was I supposed to like? She came off as very bratty and negative instead of brave and precocious, which I'm sure the author meant to portray. The mastermind of evil, Capricorn, only wanted to live in a dilapidated Italian village and hoard treasure read out of books while bullying the neighboring towns into silence about his existence. Why exactly was he so scary? What was his evil evil goal? Did he even use the gold to get stuff?

And perhaps most disappointing is that nothing really happened with the plot. We find out early on what Mo (a TERRIBLE TERRIBLE choice to name the hero) is hiding from Meggie (the ability to read things out of books), they meet up with Capricorn quickly, they run away, they are recaptured, they plan their escape, the big climax fizzles out. Yet there are 500 pages to fill.

I prefer books that give vital information on each page. I could read about 3 sentences on a page and get all the information that was needed. Seriously, what do editors do? I could have cut this book from 500 pages to a solid 150. I know people want to write like J.K. Rowling. However, not every book written needs to be a 750 page book. A long book is not the only requirement to a good book. Was she paid by the page? I don't know what the deal was.


lets just say the cover was the only good thing.
Nikki

Inkheart
I read this book when I was in sixth grade and it was the worst book I have ever read. Besides being a boring read, the book expressed devil-worshiping and much violence. The 'evil' character portrayed in this book is violent and hateful, not at all what a sixth grader should be reading. I would not recommend this book to a sixth grader, as I was, but to a mature young adult who knows the rights and wrongs of this book.

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